1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a distributed-processing equipment having a processor that reconfigures redundant devices in accordance with their operating states and one or a plurality of processors that operate in link with those devices.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, in many facilities such as exchanges that should operate continuously, functional distribution and load distribution are made by combining inexpensive microprocessors and high-level information processing technologies in an organic manner. Further, those facilities are configured as a distributed processing system which enables improvements in processing efficiency, response speed, reliability, and availability as well as can flexibly adapt to a sudden load variation and system expansion.
The hardware and software of such a facility is standardized in accordance with the forms of functional distribution and load distribution and are configured as a set of a variety of packages (modules) that conform to the standardization.
Each module employs a redundant structure that depends on the degree of influence of a failure or a fault occurring therein on other modules. If recovery from an actual failure or fault cannot be made by error correction or retrial, the module is reconfigured.
FIG. 12 shows an example of an exchange that is configured as a distributed processing system.
In FIG. 12, duplicated main processors (MPR) 40-1 and 40-2, duplicated call processors (CPR) 41-11 to 41-1N, and 41-21 to 41-2N that are provided according to a load distribution scheme, and duplicated signaling/path processors (SPP) 42-1 and 42-2 are connected to duplicated ATM links 43-1 and 43-2 via two sets of communication ports, respectively. The main processors 40-1 and 40-2 are connected to duplicated monitoring processors (ADM) 44-1 and 44-2 via duplicated communication links, and connected to one or a plurality of workstations (WS) 46-1 to 46-n and a printer 47 via a LAN 45 to which a CSMA/CD scheme is applied. The signaling/path processors 42-1 and 42-2 are connected to duplicated signaling/path controllers (LRPC) 48-1 and 48-2 via duplicated communication links, and particular communication ports of the signaling/path controllers (LRPC) 48-1 and 48-2 are connected to communication ports of duplicated switches (MSCSH) 49-1 and 49-2, respectively.
First ports of the ports of the switches 49-1 and 49-2 are connected to duplicated signaling multiplexing sections (SGCMDX) 50-1 and 50-2, respectively. Signaling controllers (SGC) 51-1 and 51-2 are connected to the signaling multiplexing sections 50-1 and 50-2 via duplicated links, respectively. Two communication ports of the respective signaling controllers 51-1 and 51-2 are connected to particular communication ports of the call processors 41-11 to 41-1N and 41-21 to 41-2N and the signaling/path processors 42-1 and 42-2 via duplicated communication links.
Second ports of the switches 49-1 and 49-2 are connected to digital terminal shelves (DTC) 53-1 and 53-2 that are mounted with a desired number p of digital terminals (DT) 52-1 to 52-p.
Third ports of the switches 49-1 and 49-2 are connected to line trunk shelves (LTC) 59-1 and 59-2 that are mounted, in a predetermined number and combination, with a line circuit (SLC) 54 that is connected to a subscriber line, a digital line circuit (DLC) 55 that is connected to a digital subscriber line, a switch-board interfacing part (AT) 56 that is connected to a switch-board (not shown), a service trunk (SVT) 57, and a register (REC) 58.
In the exchange having the above configuration, at a start or after reconfiguration (mentioned above), the signaling/path controllers 48-1 and 48-2 give predetermined instructions to the switches 49-1 and 49-2, whereby communication links (hereinafter referred to as xe2x80x9cfixed communication linksxe2x80x9d) are formed as fixed speech paths in the switches 49-1 and 49-2 so as to establish mesh-like connections between the signaling/path processors 42-1 and 42-2 and the signaling multiplexing sections 50-1 and 50-2, the digital terminal shelves 53-1 and 53-2, and the line trunk shelves 59-1 and 59-2.
The main processors 40-1 and 40-2, the call processors 41-11 to 41-1N and 41-21 to 41-2N, and the signaling/path processors 42-1 and 42-2 are connected to each other via netty channels that are formed as PVCs in the ATM links 43-1 and 43-2.
The signaling/path processors 42-1 and 42-2 are loose-coupled with the main processors 40-1 and 40-2 and the call processors 41-11 to 41-1N and 41-21 to 41-2N, via the above-mentioned fixed communication links and channels, to monitor the operating states of the duplicated monitoring processors 44-1 and 44-2, signaling/path controllers 48-1 and 48-2, switches 49-1 and 49-2, signaling multiplexing sections 50-1 and 50-2, signaling controllers 51-1 and 51-2, digital terminal shelves 53-1 and 53-2, and line trunk shelves 59-1 and 59-2.
When necessary, the signaling/path processors 42-1 and 42-2 dynamically reconfigure the above devices by supplying them with instructions that conform to results of the monitoring via the above-mentioned fixed communication links and channels.
Therefore, the main processors 40-1 and 40-2, the call processors 41-11 to 41-1N and 41-21 to 41-2N, the monitoring processors 44-1 and 44-2, the signaling/path controllers 48-1 and 48-2, the switches 49-1 and 49-2, the signaling multiplexing sections 50-1 and 50-2, the signaling controllers 51-1 and 51-2, the digital terminal shelves 53-1 and 53-2, and the line trunk shelves 59-1 and 59-2 operate with the above-mentioned duplication-type redundant structure and thereby maintain high functionality and performance of the exchange system.
The call processors 41-11 to 41-1N and 41-21 to 41-2N perform call processing according to a load distribution scheme.
During the course of this call processing, when necessary, the signaling/path processors 42-1 and 42-2 and the signaling/path controllers 48-1 and 48-2 relay and distribute messages to be passed to or from:
the call processors 41-11 to 41-1N and 41-21 to 41-2N; or
the switches 49-1 and 49-2, the signaling controllers 51-1 and 51-2, the digital terminal shelves 53-1 and 53-2, the line trunk shelves 59-1 and 59-2, the digital terminals 52-1 to 52-p, the line circuit 54, the digital line circuit 55, the switch-board interfacing part 56, the service trunk 57, and the register 58.
The main processors 40-1 and 40-2 collect information to be used for maintenance and operation of the individual sections by exchanging predetermined messages via the above-mentioned channels and fixed communication links.
The monitoring processors 44-1 and 44-2 perform man-machine interface relating to the maintenance and operation and support the maintenance and operation by cooperating, when necessary, with the workstations 46-1 to 46-n and the printer 47 that are connected to the main processors 40-1 and 40-2 via the LAN 45.
Processing to be performed in each section to realize the above-mentioned call processing, maintenance, and operation is not a characterizing feature of the invention and can be realized by using a variety of known techniques, and hence will not be described here.
Incidentally, among the above duplicated modules (packages), the signaling controllers 51-1 and 51-2, for example, exchange, via the above-mentioned channels and fixed communication links, predetermined register signals with one of the call processors 41-11 to 41-1N and 41-21 to 41-2N that has been selected under the above-described reconfiguration and load distribution during the course of call processing.
However, in a process that certain reconfiguration is performed under the control of the signaling/path processors 42-1 and 42-2, the signaling controllers 51-1 and 51-2 exchange predetermined messages with the signaling/path processors 42-1 and 42-2 via duplicated communication links.
During the course of such reconfiguration, not only the signaling controllers 51-1 and 51-2 but also the individual duplicated sections perform, when necessary, the following and other processing (hereinafter referred to simply as xe2x80x9cdevice controlxe2x80x9d) in accordance with a message that is given according to an individually applied redundancy scheme (active redundancy scheme or stand-by redundancy scheme):
Initialization.
Processing necessary for incorporation.
Transition to in-service state.
Transition to stand-by state.
Transition to out-of-service state.
Switching between an active facility and a stand-by facility.
Transition to a failure state.
Processing adapted to expansion.
The above-mentioned in-service state, out-of-service state, and the state that a transition from a stand-by facility (in-service state) to an active facility has completed are generically called xe2x80x9cstate-of-device.xe2x80x9d
Therefore, the signaling controllers 51-1 and 51-2 constitute the above-described distributed processing system as devices that operate under the control of the call processors 41-11 to 41-1N and 41-21 to 41-2N during the course of call processing but operate under the control of the signaling/path processors 42-1 and 42-2 during the course of reconfiguration (mentioned above).
Incidentally, in the above conventional example, an event that may become a factor because of which the state-of-devices of the signaling controllers 51-1 and 51-2 should be changed is not necessarily recognized by the signaling/path processors 42-1 and 42-2 and may be detected by the call processors 41-11 to 41-1N and 41-21 to 41-2N that lead call processing.
However, in such a case, the signaling/path processors 42-1 and 42-2 perform no reconfiguration and the call processors 41-11 to 41-1N and 41-21 to 41-2N simply continue call processing for the call concerned.
Therefore, during the course of call processing that is performed by the call processors 41-11 to 41-1N and 41-21 to 41-2N, there is a possibility that an uncompleted call occurs unduly because a result of reconfiguration caused by an event of the above kind is not recognized at all.
It is technically possible to avoid such an uncompleted call in such a manner that the signaling/path processors 42-1 and 42-2 and the call processors 41-11 to 41-1N and 41-21 to 41-2N notify each other via the above-described channels and fixed communication links about events for which reconfiguration should be performed that causes certain changes in state-of-devices, among individually recognized events.
However, one of the signaling/path processors 42-1 and 42-2 and one of the call processors 41-11 to 41-1N and 4121 to 41-2N can be configured as, for example, a process (thread) that is executed by a common physical processor in accordance with the scale and other specifications of the exchange.
Therefore, in actuality the above-mentioned avoidance of an uncompleted call is not attained due to limitations of standardization of configuration and cost reduction because it is not attained unless a software configuration is optimized when necessary in accordance with a hardware configuration that has been adapted to specifications.
An object of the present invention is to adapt itself to a variety of configurations and scales without preventing standardization relating to the hardware and software, as well as to unify configurations of devices at a low cost.
Another object of the invention is to suppress increases in costs that are required for manufacturing, adjustment, maintenance, and operation of an information processing system and a facility to which the invention is applied, as well as to keep the performance and the reliability of such an information processing system and facility high in a stable manner.
Another object of the invention is to allow first processors and second processors to recognize the states of operation in respective devices as a unified view with greater exactitude than in the conventional example.
Still another object of the invention is to enable flexible adaptation to a variety of forms of reconfiguration as well as to facilitate unified management of one or both of first and second storage section as long as the desired level of reliability is maintained.
Yet another object of the invention is to allow second processors to notify first processors of an event with great exactitude.
A further object of the invention is to allow first processors to notify second processors of a result of reconfiguration with great exactitude.
Another object of the invention is to enable itself to flexibly adapt to a desired configuration without preventing standardization relating to the hardware and software.
The above objects are attained by a distributed-processing equipment comprising a first storage section in which identifiers of first processors that reconfigures respective devices are registered in advance, wherein when a second processor has detected an event for which one of the devices is reconfigured, the second processor notifies, of the event, to a first processor indicated by an identifier that is registered in the first storage section as corresponding to the device.
In this distributed-processing equipment, the states of operation in the respective devices can be recognized as a unified view by the first processors and the second processors with greater exactitude than in the conventional example in which none of the first processors are notified of such an event.
The above objects are attained by a distributed-processing equipment comprising first processors monitoring states of operation in devices and reconfiguring the devices according to a result of the monitoring, and second processors cooperating with the devices according to a predetermined procedure, wherein the first storage section is provided as a shared variable of the second processors.
In this distributed-processing equipment, the first storage section can flexibly adapt to a variety of forms of reconfiguration and easily managed in a unified manner as long as a desired level of reliability is maintained.
The above objects are attained by a distributed-processing equipment comprising a second storage section in which identifiers of second processors that performs predetermined processing (except reconfiguration) while cooperating with respective devices in a dedicated manner, wherein first processors notify of a result of the reconfiguration that is adapted to an event that occurred in a device, to a second processor indicated by an identifier that is registered in the second storage section corresponding to a device that is reconfigured.
In this distributed-processing equipment, the states of operation in the respective devices can be recognized as a unified view by the second processors and the first processors with greater exactitude than in the conventional example in which none of the second processors are notified of a result of such reconfiguration.
The above objects are attained by a distributed-processing equipment wherein the second storage section is provided as a shared variable of the first processors.
In this distributed-processing equipment, the second storage section can adapt to a variety of forms of reconfiguration more flexibly than in cases where the second storage section is distributed as private variables to the respective first processors or is provided in the first processors in a divided manner in accordance with the forms of load distribution and functional distribution relating to the respective devices. And the second storage section also is managed in a unified manner more easily as long as a desired level of reliability is maintained.
The above objects are attained by a distributed-processing equipment wherein operating states of communication links that are used for inter-processor communication between all or part of the first processors and the second processors are monitored, where the all or part of the second processors judge whether a communication link to be connected to a desired first processor is normal according to a result of the monitoring, and if the result of the judgment is false, a replacement link is used.
In this distributed-processing equipment, since the communication links to be used for inter-processor communication are formed redundantly, the second processors can notify the first processors of an event of the above kind with great exactitude.
The above objects are attained by a distributed-processing equipment wherein operating states of communication links that are used for inter-processor communication between all or part of the first processors and the second processors are monitored, where all or part of the first processors judge whether a communication link to be connected to a desired second processor is normal, according to a result of the monitoring, and if the result of the judgment is false, a replacement link is used.
In this distributed-processing equipment, since the communication links to be used for inter-processor communication are formed redundantly, the first processors can notify the second processors of the result of reconfiguration with great exactitude.
Further, the above objects are attained by a distributed-processing equipment wherein some of the first processors and the second processors are configured as a process (including a thread) that is executed by a single information processing equipment.
This distributed-processing equipment can flexibly adapt to a desired configuration without preventing standardization.
Other and further objects and features of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings.